It was also Johnson and rah earlier and also vinnie, picks and blythe.

hmm Im not on here slagging our players off but I can understand the frustrations of some.
Regardless of the team out last night the performance was nothing short of shocking. People paid decent money last night and its alright brushing it under the table singing wembley but that wound me up more than the wigan fans.
The amount of dropped ball and dropping off tackles allowing them the quick play the ball was shocking.
We could easily finish outside the 8 which is an embarrassment

Clarke was e on Friday, as usual.

Finishing out of the 8 will be down to our pre-season and our performances before TS became head coach.

To be honest before TS came in I fully expected us to miss out on the 8 anyway so to still be in with a shout is an absolute bonus.

Now then had you told me we would be cc finalists this season I would have taken you on at any odds you wanted therefore the fact that we have the opportunity to go and support our team at the CC Final is an absolute bonus.

Tony Smith knows what he is doing, let him coach, after last night I doubt any of those kids will have played themselves into a spot in the team anyway.

I think we have to be careful here. Yesterday i heard someone say, " its Tony Smiths team that got us to Wembley" and in the next breath they said "its Cullens team and thats why we are not in the top 8".
Can't possibly have it both ways.

Also Tonys results since he came in charge are NOT top 8 material.The results since TS has been boss places us around 9th, which ironically is approx were we are.

I do think Smith is a top coach, but i also thought Cullen was a top coach as well.
If we lose the cup and finish outside the top 8, will that be a acceptable season for Wire? For me not.

But Cullen has had nothing to do with the team since last May Jimmy Lowes on the other hand has

Was that tongue in cheek?

But by just looking at things as black and white as that it doesn't tell the fullpicture.

We are one win off the playoffs.

We were completely under-prepared for the season under a different 'coach' and had a shocking start. The improvements we have shown under Smith have convinced me, and many others that had he been in charge from the start we would have done better.

Even when Smith first took over there were issues, it wasn't a case of clickinghis fingers and sorting everything out. Games like the Quins away game, and the Easter weekend, were IMO as a result of the pre-season.

Slowly but surely Smith has made his mark,and we are now a decent team, we are two wins off fifth.

Never happy are we. In the CC final; chance of a top eight finish in spite of the dreadful start to the season.
I am pinning more hope on next season when TS has had the pre season to prepare.
Wembley is just an unexpected, if welcome bonus this season.
12 more sleeps!

Really?

Take out the Leeds game, when Lowes was still in charge, and his league form is 11 wins 9 losses.

That gives us a 55% win ratio, which would be good enough for 5th over the season, so I'm not sure how you are working your figures out.

As per my previous post, some of those games we lost at the start of his reign were (IMO) still down to the previous regime, things like the Easter weekend, and the Quins away game were not like anything else we have seen under Smith.

Add in the Cup wins over Hull KR and Wigan, and the team's form under Smith has been very very good, and hopefully will only get better when he has had them for a pre-season.

I was going to post something similar- taking into account the cup games, since Che Tony has been in charge his win loss ratio is 15 wins, 9 defeats (since the Leeds game at home). This ratio would have seen us with 30 points in the league- up in 3rd / 4th place.

Personally you can look at the stats all you like but for me the most important factor is the general attitude and motivation of the players. They look like they want, no, are proud, to play and team spirit has been far better. Even players like Briers, who you would think was set in his ways, has changed for the better. Now all TS has do is get a bit of consistency which i am sure will follow.

Yes we played pretty bad on Friday night but tony smith probably thought that we might go into the game with our big players involved and still lose especially after the semi final smith did the right thing imo seeing what our young lads can do and giving our players a rest and jopefully we can now win our remaining fixtures and still make the 8 as we still have harlequins and Wakefield to play.

Absolutely agree.

Was going to post something similar to complement my stats. Forgetting where we are in the league table right now, we ARE a better team right now than we have been for a good few years.

Sure we have development left in us, but for me, Smith's first 5 months has ben a great success.

Just when somebody is going well, they ruin it with some proper, laughable, statement like this!!...